Clay Horning
Who knew Middle Tennessee was going to cooperate?
A turnover here, a turnover there and whoa, Paul Thompson’s Sooners looked a lot like Jason White’s Sooners. Come to think of it, Paul Thompson looked a lot like Jason White.
And defensively, well, let’s just put it this way.
The Blue Raiders might as well have been the Blue Man Group trying to stage a productive offense even against Oklahoma’s much-maligned defense.
So Middle Tennessee helped.
It helped a lot.
On the other hand, it wasn’t the wind that comes sweeping down the plain that produced OU’s 462 yards from scrimmage, 190 on the ground and 272 through the air.
And it wasn’t some invisible force that held the Blue Raiders to three first downs in the first half and seven for the game, or to 22 yards on the ground and just 73 through the air.
And it wasn’t some nameless and faceless band of young men who torched Middle Tennessee 59-0.
It was OU.
“It was good to play well in all parts of the game and to do it for 60 minutes,” Sooner coach Bob Stoops said.
The Sooners’ domination could not have been any more complete.
They only gained 462 yards because they perpetually received a short field from the Blue Raiders before pulling their playmakers late.
They scored three touchdowns on the ground, three though the air, one on a Reggie Smith punt return and another on Zach Latimer’s interception return.
Latimer’s first collegiate touchdown, he even had the presence of mind to hold the ball up for the crowd as he strode into the end zone.
OU punted. Twice.
It’s never a good idea to head toward the Cotton Bowl with any uncertainty, but that was hardly the biggest reason the Sooners needed to put together something resembling a complete game.
This was a team that had yet to lead at the half, had yet to not make a defensive fool out of itself, for at least parts of each game, had yet to score a defensive touchdown and had yet to score a special teams touchdown.
This team had to prove something to itself no matter who might be looming next on the schedule. And all in one magical night those things it had yet to do have now been done.
“That comes with practice,” said quarterback Paul Thompson, who was impressed by more than the offense he led up and down the field, “guys being critical of themselves, studying film, knowing what they’re doing wrong and trying to correct that at every position.”
That’s the inside story.
But with this team, there’s also an outside story.
It’s impossible to know if the rankings correction due the Sooners after the fiasco perpetrated upon them at Autzen Stadium will be forthcoming in the next set of polls.
Clear, though, is the fact that a game like Saturday night’s will help to make everybody but the Sooner Nation a little uncomfortable.
Mark it down.
Across the country, tens of thousands of college football fans, especially on a day OU could be found nowhere but Pay Per View television and radio, at some point in the day, found themselves asking, “How’d Oklahoma do?”
That’s just the way it’s going to be the rest of the season. A Cotton Bowl loss and the volume will wane, a Cotton Bowl win and it will spike, but it’s not going away.
And Saturday, when the nation asked, it was told 59-0.
59-0!
The Sooner Nation knew its favorite team remained suspect on its way out of Oregon. It would have been a fantastic win on paper, but this team had real issues win or lose.
It may still, but here’s what the nation knows.
This team was cheated and Saturday it won 59-0.
The Blue Raiders may not be very good, but for at least a day the Sooners were great.
So there’s that.
“This is a great stepping stone for our next game,” said linebacker Rufus Alexander.
That, too.
Clay Horning366-3526cfhorning@normantranscript.com
